UAB Participating in Major Alzheimer's Study

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham are participating in a nationwide effort to cure Alzheimer’s disease.

The project is called the A4 study. It’s being funded by the National Institute on Aging to try to reduce the impact of Alzheimer’s and find a cure for the disease. Over five million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer’s and experts say that number could triple by 2050.

Dr. Reisa Sperling is an Alzheimer’s expert at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She says UAB’s help in the study is important.

“Now they’re joining us in this new kind of prevention study, and I actually know the personnel at the University of Alabama at Birmingham site, and they’re fantastic. Some leading researchers in Alzheimer’s disease there. So we’re thrilled that they’re joining us in this important study.”

Experts say that women and members of minority communities, including African Americans and Hispanics, are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

UAB researchers are asking for people between the ages of 65 and 85 whose memory hasn’t yet been affected to take part in the study.